"Raising the Cup" schedule for August 9-13

NHL.com

Every weekday throughout July and August, the NHL Network-U.S. will air a special series, "35 Years of Stanley Cup Clinchers, 1975-2010." Fans can watch a rebroadcast of Stanley Cup-clinching games from seasons past with a chance to vote for their top five contests. Those top five games -- Fans' Choice Encores -- will air from Aug. 23-27.

On the strength of Jason Arnott's Cup-winning goal in double overtime, the New Jersey Devils won their second Stanley Cup championship by defeating the Dallas Stars 4 games to 2. Nine members of the Devils' squad were also on their Cup-winning team in 1995. The series marked the first time since the New York Islanders in 1984 that the reigning Cup champion made it to the Final but failed to defend its title. New Jersey was led by veteran defenseman Scott Stevens, whose spirited play throughout the postseason earned him the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Apart from the opening game, which New Jersey won 7-3, the series was closely matched. Four of the remaining five games were decided by one goal, including the final two games which were decided in overtime. In fact, Game 5 was not decided until the third overtime period while Game 6 went to a second overtime. The last time that two games in a Final went to at least the second overtime period was back in 1934 (Chicago vs. Detroit). Before getting to the Final, the Devils had series wins over Florida, Toronto and Philadelphia. In the series against the Flyers, the Devils trailed three games to one before overtaking Philadelphia with three straight wins, including two on the road.

The Colorado Avalanche capped a remarkable season with a seven-game Stanley Cup Final victory over the defending champion New Jersey Devils. Raymond Bourque had dubbed the Stanley Cup quest “Mission 16W” for the 16 wins it would take to send him into retirement as a champion for the first time in his 22-year career.

Unlike their first Stanley Cup victory in 1996, when the Avalanche never needed more than six games to win a series and swept the Florida Panthers in four in the Final, Colorado was pushed to the brink twice in 2001. The Avalanche needed seven games to dispose of the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference Semifinals and lost Peter Forsberg to a serious injury in the process. After a five-game victory against the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference Final, Colorado scored a decisive 5-0 victory to open the Stanley Cup Final. However, when the Devils took three of the next four games, the Avs found themselves facing elimination in the sixth game at New Jersey. The Avalanche were outshot 24-18 but emerged with a 4-0 victory thanks to the brilliance of Patrick Roy and a goal and 2 assists from Adam Foote. Roy made 25 saves back home in Denver two nights later, and Joe Sakic had a goal and an assist to give the Avalanche a 3-1 victory and their second Stanley Cup win in six seasons.

The Detroit Red Wings became the first team in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup after starting the playoffs with two losses at home. After losing the first two games in their Western Conference Quarterfinal to the Vancouver Canucks, the Red Wings won 16 of their next 21 games en route to their third Cup win under coach Scotty Bowman, who established a record with his ninth Cup victory, surpassing the mark he shared with legendary Montreal coach Toe Blake.

After the slow start in their showdown against the Canucks, Detroit proceeded to win the series in six games. They defeated the St. Louis Blues in five games before eliminating the Colorado Avalanche in a seven-game conference final.

Those series wins set up a Stanley Cup Final against the Eastern Conference champion Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes stunned the Red Wings in Game 1 of the Final on Ron Francis' overtime goal. That would be Carolina's only win in the series as the Red Wings won four straight, including a triple overtime win in Game 3 that proved to be the turning point in the series. The Cup win would be the first for many veterans on the team including goaltender Dominik Hasek, forward Luc Robitaille and defensemen Steve Duchesne and Fredrik Olausson. It also marked the second Cup win for Chris Chelios, 16 years after he first won the Cup as a member of the Montreal Canadiens in 1986.

The New Jersey Devils won their third Stanley Cup in nine seasons by defeating Anaheim in the seventh game of the Final. The series marked the first time since 1965 that the home team won every game in the Final.

After 4-1 series wins against Boston and Tampa Bay the Devils eliminated the Ottawa Senators in a seven-game conference final.

Those series wins set up a Stanley Cup Final against the Western Conference champion Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The Devils won the first two games of the Cup Final by identical 3-0 scores before losing to the Ducks in overtime of Games 3 and 4. The Devils came home for Game 5 and again won by three goals, this time by a 6-3 margin. Anaheim forced the series to the limit with a dominant 5-2 victory in Game 6. But New Jersey, backed by star goaltender Martin Brodeur, completed its trend of winning by three goals by again shutting out the Ducks 3-0. Five players, Martin Brodeur, Sergei Brylin, Ken Daneyko, Scott Niedermayer and Scott Stevens, were members of the Devils' three Stanley Cup-winning teams.

Tampa Bay's surprising success the season before raised expectations in 2003-04. Those expectations were not just met, but exceeded. The Lightning not only won the Southeast Division for the second year in a row, they topped the entire Eastern Conference with 106 points and finished second overall behind the Detroit Red Wings. In the playoffs, they reached the Stanley Cup Final, where they met the upstart Calgary Flames and defeated them in a tense, seven-game series.

The Lightning opened the playoffs with a five-game victory against the New York Islanders. Martin St. Louis, who had led the NHL in scoring and would later win the Hart Trophy as regular-season MVP in addition to the Art Ross Trophy, scored the series winner in overtime. Round two featured a four-game sweep of the Montreal Canadiens. A seven-game victory against the Philadelphia Flyers followed in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Out west, fans in Calgary were painting the town red after victories against the Vancouver Canucks, Red Wings and San Jose Sharks. Against Tampa Bay, the Flames built up a 3-2 lead in the series through five games, but the Lightning spoiled the planned celebration when St. Louis scored just 33 seconds into the second overtime period to win in Game 6. Calgary goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff had emerged as a star throughout the regular season and playoffs, but it was Tampa Bay's Nikolai Khabibulin who slammed the door in Game 7 for a 2–1 Lightning victory, with unheralded Ruslan Fedotenko scoring both goals for the Bolts.